


The Case of the Sleeping Servants

by Small_Hobbit



Category: Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 11:39:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13099320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Small_Hobbit/pseuds/Small_Hobbit
Summary: When Watson is called to attend to three patients, he little expects to see Holmes shortly afterwards.





	The Case of the Sleeping Servants

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OldShrewsburyian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OldShrewsburyian/gifts).



> ACD level of slightly dodgy science. My thanks to my ever patient beta Okapi.

“I’m sorry, Holmes,” I began, “but Anstruther has asked me to cover for him on Tuesday evening. I was reluctant to offer my help, knowing how much you are looking forward to the concert, but it seemed no-one else was available.”  
  
Holmes looked directly at me. “And has Anstruther asked you to also cover for the next two Tuesdays, or are you hoping to receive similar requests from other colleagues?”  
  
“Um, er,” I blustered, before giving up. Holmes knew my feelings on Wagner, so was no doubt unsurprised at my reluctance to accompany him to a three-week series of his concerts.  
  
On the Tuesday evening I set off for Anstruther’s house, leaving Holmes preparing to attend the concert. He was in a positive frame of mind and made no reference to my desertion. For my part, although I no longer needed to maintain my own practise, I appreciated the income, some of which I used to provide medication for the Irregulars and their families. In addition, it did not hurt to be reminded of the more usual ailments of the population, rather than just those inflicted by some of England’s more imaginative criminals.  
  
There were only a few patients to be seen that evening. I was not surprised, for Anstruther would have told his regular patients he would be away. The maid had just asked if she could get me some coffee when we heard someone knocking loudly on the front door. By the time the girl had answered the door and admitted the caller, I had my coat on and my hat and bag were in my hands. In the same way Holmes can recognise the type of client by their knock, I, and all medical practitioners, recognise the frantic knocking which means our attention is urgently required.  
  
To my surprise, a liveried footman was waiting. He saw me as I came out of the consulting room and said, “Doctor, can you come at once? I have a cab waiting.”  
  
“Of course,” I replied. Turning to the maid I said, “Dr Anstruther said he should be back for half past ten. If I have time I will return before then, if not, I shall go straight home.”  
  
“Yes, sir,” the maid answered. “I’ll let the doctor know.”  
  
The footman hadn’t waited for me to finish speaking to the maid before he had departed. I followed him out and climbed into the cab as he held the door open for me. As we travelled I asked the footman what had happened.  
  
“Two of the maids have been taken ill, sir, as well as the under-footman. They became very drowsy and now we can’t wake them. One of the maids is the butler’s daughter and he’s almost beside himself with worry.”  
  
“Has anyone else in the household been affected, even to a minor degree?”  
  
“No, sir. It’s just the three of them. They were fine before dinner, but shortly afterwards they became very listless and didn’t reply when they were spoken to. Mrs Church, the housekeeper, was cross with them, but told them to go to bed because they were of no use. After about half an hour she sent me up to check on Ted, the under-footman, in case …”  
  
The footman halted, so I nodded and said, “In case they had planned something together?”  
  
“Yes. I thought they might have been the case as well, so I went in and prodded Ted and told him I didn’t appreciate him getting out of his chores, which meant I’d had to do them. But he didn’t move at all. I wasn’t sure if he was playing a trick, or if there really was a problem, so I shook him hard by the shoulder, but he didn’t stir. I went back down and told Mrs Church, and she went to check the two maids with a similar result. I can’t say exactly what she did, but she said she couldn’t get them to move either. And since the master and mistress are out, and she didn’t like to wait for their return, she sent me to fetch Dr Anstruther, who is her own doctor. The maid told me you were standing in for him, Dr Watson.”  
  
By this time, we had reached the house. The front door was opened by a lady who I took to be Mrs Church, and I was ushered inside and then shown up the back stairs.   
  
As we ascended, Mrs Church said, “I’ll take you to see the maids first. They share a room. Mr White, the butler, is sitting with his daughter, and I’ve left Aggie, the scullery maid there too, since it would not be seemly for him to be alone with the other girl, but he is so distressed I felt it cruel not to let him be with his daughter.”  
  
I examined all three patients, but could not identify anything which might have caused the malady. All three were breathing, although one of the maids’ breathing was a little shallower than I would have liked. But as I wasn’t her doctor I didn’t know whether this was her nature. The only conclusion I could come to was to let them sleep and see if they woke naturally. Accordingly, I told the housekeeper I would return in the morning to see whether there had been any improvement.  
  
The housekeeper was about to show me out when there was a commotion at the front door. She hurried off, leaving me in a doorway from whence I saw a group of people making their way towards what I presumed to be the drawing room.  
  
I heard a woman’s voice say, “We have sent for Dr Bartholomew. He should be here shortly. Help his Lordship to his bedroom; the doctor can go straight up when he arrives.”  
  
Apart from Lord and Lady Tremoyle, there were three gentlemen in evening dress who were also present. One of them helped the footman as he assisted Lord Tremoyle to his bedroom. Of the two remaining gentlemen I did not recognise one, but the other was most certainly Sherlock Holmes. I stepped forward, intending to offer my assistance, but Holmes spotted me and shook his head, before discretely pressing a finger to his lips. Therefore, I slipped back into the servants’ quarters and made my way out via the rear entrance.  
  
Not knowing how long Holmes would be, I decided not to wait up. If he did not return until the early hours of the morning I would not have time for much sleep before I had to return to see my patients. I was writing a note to Mrs Hudson requesting an early breakfast, when to my surprise I heard the front door shut and Holmes’ footsteps on the stairs.  
  
As he entered our rooms I said, “You’re back sooner than I expected.”  
  
“There was nothing for me to do. Truth be told, I am not even sure a crime has been committed. It is not unheard of for someone to collapse at a concert, but Lord Tremoyle’s behaviour did not follow the usual pattern of such actions.”  
  
“Describe it for me.”  
  
Holmes told me how his Lordship had seemed to be dozing, and how he had failed to respond to his wife’s increasingly urgent attempts to wake him. Finally, with the help of Holmes and the gentleman who had assisted him upstairs, his Lordship had been encouraged to stand up, and had been able to walk to the cab, although it had been as though he were sleepwalking. It was almost exactly the description I had been given with regards to my patients. The only difference had been Lord Tremoyle’s ability to walk, albeit aided, which hadn’t been exhibited by the others. However, as Holmes pointed out, all three of the servants had taken to their beds much sooner, so we could not tell how they would have responded under similar circumstances.  
  
I told Holmes I would be returning to the house first thing in the morning, and would let him know of any further developments, then bade him a good night, and went to bed.  
  
I was dressing the following morning when I heard Holmes running up the stairs to my room. I called to him to come in.  
  
“Lord Tremoyle is dead,” he said without preamble.  
  
“My patients!” I exclaimed. I hurried to finish dressing.  
  
“I will send Billy to hail a cab,” Holmes said. “I can be ready in three minutes.”  
  
In less than that time we both rushed out to find Billy had a cab ready and waiting for us.  
  
As soon as we reached the house we were admitted by the footman, who showed Holmes into the dining room. I, meanwhile, slipped through the side door to find my patients. I was met by one of the maids I had examined the day before. She looked pale, but she was on her feet and clearly recovering.  
  
“I am so glad to see you,” I said. “And the others – the maid and the under-footman?”  
  
“Tilly’s still in bed,” the girl replied. “She’s quite weak, but she’s managed a little breakfast. Robertson is more or less himself again.”  
  
“I would like to examine Tilly,” I said. “Could you take me up to her?”  
  
“Of course, doctor.”  
  
The maid had been correct. Tilly was recovering, albeit rather slower than the others. I asked her if she had suffered with her breathing in the past, but she said not. I asked both girls whether they had done or eaten anything particular the previous day, and both confirmed all they had done were their regular chores, and they had eaten nothing the rest of the staff had not eaten. I was therefore mystified as to what had caused their temporary illness.  
  
I was not entirely surprised to find Holmes waiting for me when I returned downstairs. He drew me into the butler’s pantry and said quietly, “Do you think whatever ailed your patients could have killed someone with a weak heart?”  
  
“I suppose it’s possible,” I replied. “But I fail to see how they and his Lordship could all have been affected. I have spoken to both maids, and neither can recall anything out of the ordinary yesterday.”  
  
“And yet I still have my suspicions,” Holmes said. There was a knock on the door, and he added, “Maybe this will help further our case.”  
  
He called out to come in, and the under-footman entered, looking puzzled. “Mr White said I should speak to you, sir,” he said.  
  
“I want you to think back to yesterday afternoon, Robertson,” Holmes said. “Can you remember anything different, however minor?”  
  
Robertson thought and then shook his head. “There was nothing until I suddenly became very sleepy.” He paused again and added, “Although I did have to open the window in the master’s study briefly.”  
  
“Why was that? It was a cold day yesterday; it seems unlikely he would have requested it.”  
  
“The maid had been having trouble with the fire smoking and had wanted to get rid of the excess smoke. The two housemaids had been unable to open the window together, so they had called me in to do so.”  
  
“I imagine you had no trouble demonstrating your strength to the maids,” Holmes said with a smile.  
  
Robertson looked slightly embarrassed. “I thought I would impress them, but the window was very stiff, and I only managed to shift it a couple of inches, just enough to let the worst of the smoke out.”  
  
“I don’t suppose you recall which of the maids was lighting the fire, do you? Was it Miss White?”  
  
“No, it would have been Tilly. It was her job. I think she’d called Alice to help her.”  
  
“Thank you, Robertson, that will be all.”  
  
“Very good, sir.”  
  
Once Robertson had left I turned to Holmes. “I presume you intend to examine the study.”  
  
“Yes, and sooner rather than later, I think. Come, Watson, before anyone else disturbs it.”  
  
Just as we entered the study, we heard a male voice say, “I’m so sorry for your loss, my dear. I must go out for a while, but I’ll be back early this afternoon. I’ll just see if I left my snuff box in the study, and then I will be off.”  
  
At a nod from Holmes, I quietly locked the study door from inside. Holmes darted over to the fireplace and raked around in the ashes with the poker. He gave an exclamation of delight and carefully removed something from the back of the fire with his pocket handkerchief.  
  
Meanwhile, the owner of the snuff box, had tried the study door. “Adelaide,” he called out, “the door seems to be locked.”  
  
“That’s strange,” her ladyship replied, “Ernest never normally locked the door. White has a spare key in his pantry, shall I send the footman to get it.”  
  
“No, the servants have enough to do. I’ll collect it myself.”  
  
Holmes quickly looked round the rest of the room and said, “Right, Watson, let’s go!”  
  
We exited the study, Holmes locking the door behind us and slipping the key into his coat pocket.  
  
We made our way back to Baker Street. Once in our rooms, Holmes removed some crystals from his handkerchief and began to examine them.  
  
“Holmes,” I said, “if you are planning on burning those, then I would suggest you open the window and I will ensure Mrs Hudson goes out for the rest of the day.”  
  
Holmes gave a bark of laughter. “I won’t make that mistake twice,” he said. “I need to dissolve only a little from one of these crystals to confirm my suspicions. Although it may be as well to open the window as a precaution.”  
  
Accordingly, I did so. Holmes watched me, and then said, “It wouldn’t be a problem for our housemaid to open the window, would it?”  
  
“I don’t think so,” I replied. “And I’ve known Mrs Hudson open it without difficulty on several occasions.”  
  
“Quite. And yet that study window defeated two maids and hardly moved for a strong young footman.”  
  
“Implying someone didn’t want it opened.”  
  
“Precisely. The gentleman with the apparently missing snuff box.”  
  
“Do you know who he was?”  
  
“Her ladyship’s brother. The Honourable Thomas Melville.”  
  
“Oh!”  
  
“Oh indeed. The gentleman whose name was mentioned in connection with the attack on the jeweller, due apparently to a query regarding his right to sell a ruby necklace. I understand charges were dropped following a payment from Lord Tremoyle.”  
  
As we had been talking Holmes had dropped the fragment of crystal into a test tube and added one of his chemicals to it. The resultant smoke prompted him to use his tongs to carry the test tube and hold it outside the opened window.  
  
“Excellent!” Holmes appeared delighted with the result. “I have already sent a telegram to Lestrade and expect him here very soon. I think we can conclude that, with his sister inheriting following his brother-in-law’s death, Melville assumed he would be able to control her, and thus her income.”  
  
“And had you not had your suspicions, he would have managed it.”  
  
“My suspicions and a doctor who cared greatly for his patients. Another doctor might have considered the servants’ indisposition of no importance, but thanks to your connecting these with Lord Tremoyle’s ailment I had already formed some ideas, which meant we saved time this morning. Had Melville managed to retrieve the crystals from the fireplace it would have been much more difficult to prove his guilt.”  
  
“So the burnt crystals gave off smoke which Lord Tremoyle and the three servants breathed in. It put the servants to sleep, but for his Lordship, with his heart condition, it proved fatal.”  
  
“Indeed, and we can also assume Lord Tremoyle spent longer in the room and therefore breathed in more of the smoke. Remember, Tilly, who lit the fire, was the servant who was most affected.”  
  
While he was talking, Holmes had continued to stand with one hand holding the test tube outside the window. Apparently satisfied the contents no longer constituted a danger he brought his hand back in and said, “I see Lestrade approaching. He will no doubt be pleased the case has already been brought to a conclusion.”  
  
Holmes moved to close the window, then said, “Perhaps it would be wiser to leave this open for a little longer.”  
  
“I’ll warn Lestrade not to take off his overcoat.”


End file.
